Our People

Christopher co-founded Cygnus Capital in 2010 to focus on investments in opportunistic and distressed real estate instruments and take advantage of the vast market opportunities in this space. He was the driving force behind the formation of the company and its “family” of investment funds.
From 2008 to 2013, Christopher was a Portfolio Manager at SAC Capital Advisors in Stamford, CT where he managed a $750 million long/short equity portfolio focused primarily on the global technology sector and secondarily on Asia as a geography. His gross returns significantly outpaced the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index over his tenure at SAC while averaging less than 20% net exposure to the market.
Prior to SAC, Christopher worked at GMT Capital Corporation (“GMT”) for five years, initially as an analyst and later as a sector head, leading the firm’s investments in the technology sector as a well as establishing and leading the fund’s Hong Kong office.
Prior to GMT, Christopher founded two successful software companies and raised over $35 million in venture capital to support each company’s growth. Directly after business school, he was an associate at McKinsey & Co. where he was engaged in a number of strategic reorganization projects, primarily in the financial services industry. Christopher also spent 4 years in Germany and Russia working in senior marketing and sales positions for Millicom International and a division of Merck & Co.
Christopher received a dual M.B.A. and M.A. in International Studies from the Wharton School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University, receiving a B.A. in Political Science and Public Policy.

Andy co-founded Cygnus Capital in 2010 and is responsible for managing and directing the day to day acquisition, renovation/repositioning and financing activities of Cygnus Property Fund V. He also served a similar role for all the previous Cygnus Funds.
Andy has been a real estate investor/owner for the past 15 years. Prior to his career in real estate, Andy was employed by a large regional financial institution where he was responsible for the placement of over $1 billion in debt/equity investments with local, regional, and national real estate operators. Following his career in finance, Andy joined Atlanta-based Miles Properties (“MPI”) as Director of Acquisitions/Dispositions. While at MPI, Andy was responsible for the acquisition and disposition of assets in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions, as well as in Texas and Colorado. Via the Cygnus Funds and personal investments, he holds ownership interests in over 8,000 multi-family units in the Southeast. In addition, Andy served as a principal in DCCH Construction a Houston, Texas-based luxury homebuilder.
Andy holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A. from Louisiana State University. He is a member of the National Multi Housing Council, the Urban Land Institute and the Atlanta Apartment Association.

John Lyons joined Cygnus in October 2017 with experience in accounting and information systems management. From 2014 to 2017, John co-owned an affiliated company, Cygnus Association Management, LLC (“CAM”), which managed homeowners associations and residential real estate developments. At its peak, CAM managed eight associations, including four that were owned by Cygnus or one of the Funds. Prior to his time at CAM, John was a Senior Associate at PwC in its Advisory Practice, where he specialized in risk and governance, performance improvement, and project management. John also has worked as an assistant broker specializing in commercial real estate for Marcus and Millichap in the Southeast. He started out in the real estate industry as a closing assistant and title specialist at Wisconsin Title Closing & Credit Services. John holds a BBA from Emory University with concentrations in Finance and Information Systems.

Dennis joined the Cygnus Capital team in 2020 as an Acquisition Associate. In this position, he will assist in property due diligence, loan and acquisition closing, sourcing and underwriting potential acquisitions, and preparing investment analysis and memorandums for pipeline and investment committee meetings. Dennis previously worked with SitusAMC in the real estate capital markets space where he helped facilitate the placement of over $1.5 billion in commercial real estate backed debt instruments comprised of approximately 10,000 multifamily units and 7 million square feet of commercial space. Prior to that Dennis worked with BBVA Compass in their corporate banking and commercial real estate lending groups in Birmingham, Alabama. Dennis is a native of LaGrange, Georgia and graduated from Auburn University with a master’s degree in Real Estate Development in 2020 and a bachelor’s degree in Finance / Marketing in 2012. In his free time, Dennis enjoys playing golf and volunteering with local non-profit organizations.

Bill O’Herron is a partner and Director of Capital Markets at Cygnus. Bill has 30+ years of institutional research sales/trading and capital raising experience, having lead sales teams at Refco and Salomon Brothers in London, as well as at smaller, independent research and capital markets teams like Access Pointe and Ascendant Capital. Over the course of his career, Bill has developed an appreciation and understanding of alternative investments that have helped to build strong relationships within the industry’s largest global, long-short and traditional fund management firms. Bill earned a BA in English from Middlebury College and a Master of Science degree from Columbia University.

Kyle joined the Cygnus Capital team in 2020 as a Regional Wholesaler. He graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2018 with a degree in Finance and currently holds his Series 7 and 63 licenses. He is a local native of Atlanta, Georgia coming from Peachtree City just 25 miles south. He will be working closely with the fundraising efforts for the firm and helping identify prospective investor relationships. Kyle has worked as a wholesaler on the West Coast for over a year and looks to bring his experience in marketing and relationship-building to help Cygnus Capital grow. Kyle enjoys his free time playing golf with his friends and watching the Atlanta Braves where he has been a season ticket holder for several years.

Dipo, CPA, joined Cygnus Capital in May of 2018, bringing with him over 10 years of real estate and investment management industry experience. Dipo was previously employed at State Street Global Services, as a Fund Controller, where he managed three closed-end real estate funds totaling $4 billion in committed capital. Prior to State Street, he was a Portfolio Accountant at Starwood Capital Group and was responsible for managing a diverse real estate portfolio comprised of various asset classes totaling $1 billion. Dipo’s real estate career began at Gables Residential where he held various positions ranging from Property Accountant to Internal Auditor.
Dipo holds a B.S. in Accounting from Northeastern University, where he also played as a four-year member of the Division I Men’s Basketball Team. Dipo is currently a member of the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants and is a licensed CPA in the state of Georgia.

Mandy joined the Cygnus team in May of 2016 as a Senior Accountant and has since been promoted to Accounting Supervisor. Mandy is the head accountant of Cygnus Property Fund II and will also serve in the same capacity for Cygnus Property Fund V. Prior to Cygnus, Mandy worked as a Staff Accountant for a pharmaceutical management company that oversaw and maintained the accounting records for the management company as well as 5 other inter-companies. Mandy graduated from Georgia State University/J. Mack Robinson College of Business with a B.S. in Accounting.

Heather Patterson joined Cygnus Capital in October 2013 as an Assistant Property Manager. Her main responsibilities included working onsite at Cygnus held properties to collect rents, handle resident issues, and assist in managing office staff. In December 2016, Heather transitioned to her current role in the corporate office. She brings with her over 10 years of experience having held various positions in the industry including Leasing Consultant, Assistant, and Property Manager.

Melanie Monroe joined Cygnus Capital as a Senior Accountant in 2017. She holds a BS in Business Administration from Florida A&M University and a Masters of Accountancy (MAcc) specializing in Taxation from Florida State University. Melanie began her career in public accounting and gained several years of experience in tax preparation for partnerships and other business entities. She is currently studying for the CPA exam.

Wesley Davis is a Senior Accountant at Cygnus Capital whose duties include accounting oversite of Cygnus Fund III – Snake River Sporting Club and its affiliated entities. His primary focus pertains to closing the monthly accounting cycle which reflects heavy property sales/home construction, debt/mortgage maintenance and seasonal lodging/rental activity as well as annual coordination and compliance with Fund auditors. Wesley has over 25 years of experience working as a Senior Property Accountant in the real estate industry and providing property management and portfolio accounting for commercial, industrial, and retail holdings of clientele such as MetLife, Georgia Pacific, General Growth Properties, and various institutional investors. Wesley holds a B.S. in Business and Administration from the University of Alabama.